Los Angeles Times film critic Kenneth Turan called Bauer "The greatest director you've never heard of.

From childhood, Bauer displayed artistic tendencies and participated in his favourite dramatised scenes (his sister was a professional actress).

In 1917, Bauer and the Khanzhonkov company moved to a new studio in Yalta, where he made the film For Happiness with the young actor Lev Kuleshov.

Bauer is considered a leading stylist of Russian silent cinematography and placed particular emphasis on the pictorial aspect of film-making.

[4] He is considered a master of psychological drama, and also one of the first Russian directors who developed the artistic side of cinema including montage, mise-en-scene and the composition of the frame.

[5][6] He made great use of his theatrical experience when making his films, the outcomes of which occasionally prefigured future achievements in cinema.